Scarborough vs Hereford – take three

Or not. The third attempt to get this fixture played looks to be doomed before it’s even had the chance to get to the point of pitch inspection territory, given the weather forecast for Bridlington of freezing temperatures all day on Tuesday following the heavy snow they had over the weekend.

With the number of postponements over the last few months racking up, the luck Hereford had with the weather in terms of being able to get a ropey pitch with destroyed drainage playable for the Boxing Day payday against Kidderminster is looking increasingly like a gift from above, in terms of keeping the club ticking over financially.

This is the Seadogs’ fourth season in the NLN, although it’s a challenging one for them following plastic pitch replacement issues at the Flamingo Land Stadium, which has left them playing home games this season twenty miles down the coast at Bridlington.

Despite the inconvenience of that, they started superbly and were in the top three for a while.

They’ve now slipped a tiny bit but still occupy a play-off position. They beat Fylde and Merthyr earlier in the season, and their record as tenants at Bridlington’s Mounting Systems Stadium is good. They’ve won six of 11 games there and conceded fewer goals at home than anyone else in the league apart from South Shields.They don't score many though.

They’re typically a good-to-watch passing team. Luca Colville, Alex Purver and Harry Green have all shown themselves to be smart and creative midfielders against Hereford before. Dom Tear always weighs in with goals, but the big success story for them this season has been ex-Middlesbrough youngster Stephen Walker, who joined in February from Whitby. He has nine goals in 16 league games.

On Saturday, they drew 1-1 at Southport in what was reportedly a scrappy game not helped by blizzardy conditions. It could be that the weather was a leveller, or suggestive that yet again there's precious little in terms of quality to separate 6th and 19th in the National League North, which may be something that will assist Hereford in climbing out of trouble over the coming weeks.

As for the visitors, two new arrivals were announced last week. Central midfielder Keziah Martin is 25 and has played for Kidderminster, Rushall and Boston, and has come to Edgar Street on loan from Buxton, so with that CV he’s familiar with NLN football, although apparently is not required by Buxton. Not Burton, Buxton. This is where we’re at. We need to get used to it.

The fact that he’s represented Bermuda at international level seems to be more or less irrelevant in terms of what he can bring to this level of English football, apart from the fact that he’ll potentially miss matches whilst away on international duty against St Kitts and Nevis and other footballing powerhouses if he becomes a fixture at Edgar Street.

Fellow new signing Justin Donawa has played almost 100 games in the National League after Solihull signed him for a fee from Darlo six years ago. He’s also a Bermudan international, and therefore also a possible occasional absentee given potential random CONACAF absences and suchlike. He sticks around at clubs for whole seasons, so if it turns out well for both parties over the next few months perhaps he could be a useful presence next season. Whether he could be put on a contract as a player who could be unavailable for chunks of the season is questioanable though for a club with Hereford’s limited funding streams.

There is a FIFA arrangement in place whereby the national FA compensates the player’s club though, so maybe it would be feasible. Good old FIFA, always looking after the grass roots and not thinking of itself.

Both players look like they’ll add something to the mix and improve the overall level of quality in the dressing room, and fresh legs and an enthusiasm to prove themselves should make a difference. They’ll hopefully both be the sort of player who responds to playing in front of a crowd rather than shrinks from it; a crowd will be something of an alien concept given that they’ve come from Buxton and Brackley. If Hereford do actually manage to play a football match again at some point it’ll be intriguing to see what they have to offer and how they can give the season a much needed bit of oomph. There’s also the possibility that one or two more new arrivals could be announced before the next match, whenever that might be.

Anyway, frankly there’s no chance this game will go ahead so it’s on to Fylde in the Trophy on Saturday, and given where that’s due to be played it could also be a P-P. 

Funny old season.

COYW